Victoria Hills

Transport Projects Officer, Wycombe District Council in Buckinghamshire

She went on to take a masters in town planning at the University of Newcastle, where she was one of only two students in her year to opt for a specialism in transport planning. She says she enjoyed the spatial planning side of the course far more than the engineering aspect.

Hills suspected that her specialist knowledge of transport issues might boost her chances of finding a job. Straight after graduating eight years ago, she was appointed transport projects officer at Wycombe District Council in Buckinghamshire. The post had been created in response to the new transport planning demands being imposed on councils by the government.

Following a spell at consultants Steer Davies Gleave, Hills joined the Greater London Authority four years ago as a policy officer. She has

the crucial role of monitoring delivery of London mayor Ken Livingstone's transport plan across all modes.

She is especially stimulated by the challenge of helping to oversee the capital's £10 billion, five-year investment plan as it gets ready for

the Olympics Games in 2012. "We

feel that we are at the cutting edge," she says.